Joyous Glow
by Erendhyl
Summary: Ordinarily, joy was said to emanate from the heart. By contrast, Hinata could swear that it emanated from her hand. Specifically her left hand. Specifically the engagement ring on her left ring finger. NaruHina


Joyous Glow

**Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto; this is a fan-created work that is not being used for profit. In simpler words: me no own.**

**Beta-ed by Lucrecia on Narutofan**

**Dedicated to Narutofan forums' NaruHina fanclub and all its awesome members.  
**

**

* * *

**Ordinarily, joy was said to emanate from the heart. By contrast, Hinata could swear that it emanated from her hand. Specifically her left hand.

Specifically her left ring finger.

Though not a vain person, Hinata couldn't help but admire the simple white gold band that now rested there. In the interests of practicality, it had no gemstone or other adornments, but neither of those things diminished the glow she felt every time she looked at it. The night she received it had been one of the few times she'd ever seen Naruto stumbling to find the right words—Uzumaki Naruto, who had once convinced a godlike opponent to voluntarily sacrifice his own life by using nothing _but_ his words! In typical Naruto fashion, he'd found the words for Hinata though, eventually. They were the words that she would remember for the rest of her life.

~o~

They'd gone out for ramen that night, at Hinata's request. Naruto had invited her to some restaurant that promised the sort of fancy dinner that always made him feel uncomfortable, which she had politely declined (to his great relief) in favor of a more personal meal for them. Ichiraku had been the site of their first date, and the proper Hyuuga heiress who'd once worn such delicate kimonos could honestly say that she preferred eating the simple meal with Naruto to a hundred formal dinners.

Naruto showed up before her, as was customary for them. Both wore their civilian clothes rather than anything formal, and, as was almost customary for them, Hinata found Naruto twice as handsome in his plain, everyday clothes as she would if he'd worn anything fancy.

"Hinata!" he cried joyfully when he saw her, one of his famous smiles spreading across his face.

"Naruto-kun!" she called back happily, jogging a bit to close the distance between them faster. The two of them embraced, holding each other so tightly that their shadows blurred together in the setting sun. Hinata breathed a heavy sigh of content, a smile shining on her face as Naruto's arms held her close to him.

They pulled apart after a few moments that could never be long enough, ducking into the ramen stand and taking their seats at the bar.

"What'd you want today, Hinata?" Naruto asked her.

"Um, I guess I'll have miso ramen, Naruto-kun," she replied.

"Hey, Old Man, two miso ramens please!" Naruto called. Teuchi nodded, already getting to work on their order.

"Coming right up, you two."

The couple sat in happy silence for a few moments while their ramen was prepared, and then the silence was replaced with the sound of noodles being happily slurped.

After a few minutes of pleasant eating, Hinata looked up from her ramen and was shocked to see that Naruto had finished his bowl without ordering another one. He wasn't looking downcast or ill, or anything else that would have explained his sudden apparent loss of appetite. Instead, he was looking intently at her, clearly waiting for her to finish.

"What is it, Naruto-kun? Is something wrong?" she asked, setting her chopsticks down and turning to face him. His face reddened uncharacteristically at the question, and he took a deep breath to calm himself while reaching for something in his jacket.

What he pulled out was a small, almost plain black box. It was such a simple thing, but the sight of it still sent Hinata's heart fluttering.

"Hinata," Naruto addressed her, dropping onto one knee, "I… you, wi—wiyumryme? …Damn it," he swore quietly.

"N-Naruto-kun…" she stammered.

"Wait please, Hinata. I want to be able to say this right. Back on—on that day, you told me that you loved me. And I've always… always really wanted to be able to give you the same gift that you gave me then.

"I've tried… for years to get other people to acknowledge me. It's something that I've always had to work at. Even people like Iruka-sensei and Sasuke didn't accept me until I'd proved myself. But I didn't really mind that. They're my precious, precious people and I wanted them to grow close to me. It never seemed weird to me that I had to work to do that.

"But you… you're different, Hinata. It wasn't you who didn't notice me at first; it was me who didn't notice you. You were someone who started to care about me even before I tried to earn it, and… that's really special to me. You're someone who's brave and who doesn't give up. A person like you, I really, really _love_.

"I know it's still not the same as your confession, but… Hinata, will you marry me?"

In retrospect, Naruto probably had expected to hear the word 'yes'. Or maybe he realized that Hinata was crying too much to speak, so he would have been content with a nod. What he didn't expect was for Hinata to kiss him full on the mouth, or for the kiss to last nearly a full minute. When they finally parted, he slipped the ring on Hinata's finger, and the Hyuuga girl could swear that she felt it glowing with her happiness.


End file.
